mine would be like reliably and briefly catastrophic every 5 or so years when one contradiction or another starts to crack under its own weight then immediately restored to an implausible high
1 Like
This is great so far
1 Like
So I’m reading the boys.
It’s not great.
4 Likes
i think i got two issues into it when it was new. it’s astounding that they managed to make a comic even more repulsive than wanted
My understanding is the show is a much better adaptation of the source material. I haven’t read or watched either but I chime in nonetheless.
2 Likes
the first ~3 seasons, yes, the fourth one was very bad
Is that the new one? We haven’t watched it yet, I don’t want it to be bad 
borderline unwatchable, sorry to be the bearer of bad news
Sigh. This is why all television shows should be like anime and have 2 seasons max and be entirely prewritten before they start production.
well on that note, the dungeon meshi adaptation first season was great and it’s getting a second, and I’m also really enjoying catching up on the second season of the urusei yatsura reboot
3 Likes
So I’ve been reading some EC Comics books lately. The EC Archives trades available in stores today are color remastered versions of the individual issues for each series. I am very torn on how to approach reading more of these…
I am aware that there are black and white fantagraphics editions that collect the work of a specific artist and author. But I don’t as of yet have any preference for author and artist, and think the idea of reading each issue sounds more fun and historically contextualized.
There are large-format Rus Cochran omnibus editions from the 80s and 90s you can find fairly well online, though they are expensive. They are the just the issues of each series, with some essays included I guess. Buying one collection of all of the Vault of Horror in this format would probably be cost effective in the end, as each new trade of the EC Archives versions is ~$20 each and there are 3-5 volumes per series. But these are also in black and white.
The only color versions of EC comics available in collected formats are these remastered EC Archives volumes. Though people are very torn (mostly, from what I read, settled that they are “garish” and ugly remasters) on whether the coloring is any good. Most people I have seen online say that they would prefer any of the black and white editions of EC Comics over these colorized versions. And, accounting for the ready availability of these, and the relative affordability if you’re not gonna track down each and every volume of each and every series, the EC Archives editions seem like a totally valid and maybe even better way to experience these comics over the black and white editions simply because the originals were printed in color.
In black and white, you experience the stories and the illustration work as it always has been, but you do not get any impression of the colorist’s contribution to EC Comics’ legacy at all. Then again, with the remastered EC Archives versions you could say probably the same thing… but there’s some attempt with those to at least translate Marie Severin’s vision into a wider color gambut that you can squint and probably get an aspect of the affect these comics must have had on people who held and read the originals.
Obviously none of these options are perfect at all. It’s so weird. Why hasn’t something perfect come about already, after all this time? Someone should just do it! But, wishing aside, I am still conflicted about chasing down the Rus Cochran editions or just buying up the EC Archives versions as I come across them. And I came here to hear some other thoughts about this kind of thing. Does anyone have some?
5 Likes
I have a few of the black and white Fantagraphics collections and I really like that format. Starting out, I also had no idea which artists would end up being my favorites so I just tried to make educated guesses based on reviews and things. I’ve liked all the ones I’ve read so far.
To make sure I wasn’t missing anything with the lack of color, I also picked up this book. It’s huge and includes a lot of different genres and artists, so it would be a great starting point if you don’t know what to focus on. It was surprisingly cheap about a year ago when I got it but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be easy to get at the moment.
6 Likes
its fucking terrible, DNF. and ive been SB’s boys stan since you all yelled at me about how stupid it was in the first season
when i was library workin a decade ago I found this on a shelf, leafed through and it was such absolute garbage I’m still a bit astonished it got adapted but by all accounts the show is markedly better
but it’d have struggled to be worse
1 Like
the filth
that was a good comic book that could’ve been teevee’d with some panache, particularly if they leaned hard into disco
6 Likes
Idk I liked Boys season 4 
Never read the book.
1 Like
As for best way to read EC comics today, I think if you can find the collections that are printed on newsprint that’s the ideal way to experience them in color outside of finding an original. I have a collection that’s printed on glossy paper and it’s basically fine. The size is similar to the originals but it’s not newsprint so it’s less authentic feeling. I have four or five trades from like 20 years ago that are printed on a newsprint that I like a lot more, though they’re the size of regular comic books instead of magazine sized.
I have a few of the hardback collections from FantaGraphics that I picked up on a whim here and there and haven’t been disappointed yet. The three I currently have are, in order of my personal favorite, 50 Girls 50 (Al Williamson sci-fi stories), Came the Dawn (Wallace Wood crime stories) and Deadly Beloved (Johnny Craig horror stories).
Since the EC artists were always trying to outdo each other the overall quality for any given one of them is pretty high. Of the three books I mentioned I’m most in love with Williamson and Woods’ work but Johnny Craig was no slouch either. My advice is pick a book based on your genre preferences and you probably won’t be disappointed.
I would definitely pick up an artist edition if they ever get reprints. Those reproduce the original artwork that EC kept or has been to get back from collectors. They’re basically life size color photographs of the pages, and you can see every mark, correction, adjustment etc. It’s great to see because some of those artists’ work didn’t always reproduce well once it was scaled down. Stuff like fine lines and hatching ended up smudging together and looking muddy in the final print after reduction.
3 Likes
I don’t think anything like this exists, sadly. That’s the ideal I wish existed.